The Carlson Planetarium in Porter, Indiana

DR. ERIC HERMAN CARLSON, THE
STAR GAZER OF PORTER
Photo: Courtesy, T h e G a r y P o s t - T r i b u ne
DR. CARLSON'S PLANETARIUM
PORTER, INDIANA
Photo: Courtesy, T h e G a r y P o s t - T r i b'
THE CARLSON PLANETARIUM IN
PORTER, INDIANA
ANNA-MAUD TRANBERG
The Chesterton Tribune of August 26, 1954, carried on
its front page, what one might call the obituary of the Carl­son
Planetarium in Porter, Indiana. On that day a build­ing,
about as controversial as its builder, was with much
effort of men with bulldozer and cables completely torn
down. "It was a sad sight for any friend of Dr. Carlson,"
said the account. Whether or not one would agree, that the
planetarium was "a ramshackle structure" as the Chester­ton
Tribune put it or "a fire hazard" as the then owner of
the Carlson property declared it to be, fact is that the Carl­son
Planetarium had for years been a landmark in Porter
County in more ways than one.
Eastbound visitors to the Indiana Dunes State Park and
other travelers could not very well ignore that strange, rus­tic
building set among sturdy oaks by a little river just off
road 20, a few miles west of the Dunes State Park. The
sign Carlson's Planetarium over the gate posts could easily
be observed. If the traveler took the time and trouble to
approach the building, the lettering over the front entrance
saying, A B o y ' s Dream Come True might add to the read­er's
curiosity about the building.
In its account of the razing of the planetarium the Ches­terton
Tribune described the building as oval shaped, mea­suring
200' in circumference. It had a center aisle 66' long,
123
connecting the front and back doors. The planetarium was
a two story construction. On the main floor was a large
lecture hall and several smaller rooms, some with just the
bare earthen floors. From the upper level one could by
means of a ladder and a trap door reach a roof platform,
where Dr. Carlson set up his telescope for the scrutiny of
the firmament. The planetarium and Dr. Carlson's resi­dence
"Villa Olivia" were surrounded by fourteen acres of
beautiful land.
The history of Carlson's planetarium* dates back to the
year 1922. That was the year, when Dr. Carlson's services
as minister to the congregation of the Augsburg Lutheran
Church in Porter, Indiana, were terminated. He had then
served that congregation, his first and only one, for a pe­riod
of ten years. Officially he resigned from his duties,
due to ill health. There may have been other reasons also.
At that time, Dr. Carlson owned some land, bought from
Frances Howe, a granddaughter of Joseph Bailly, first white
settler in Porter county. On this land he now set about
building a planetarium. He and his devoted friends had
only their hands and the usual carpenter tools of that time
to complete a task that in some respects was gigantic. In
our age of power tools, felling white oaks with axes and
hand saws and then setting those mighty logs vertically in
* The personal history of the Star Gazer of Porter—Eric Herman
Carlson was born in Nyhammar, Grangärde, Dalarna, Sweden, July
12, 1876 and came with his parents to Chicago in 1892. Graduating
from Lane Technical High School, he studied at Armour Institute
and at Lewis Institute. For a time he worked for the Swedish lan­guage
newspaper Svenska Posten in Chicago and then taught school
for three years in Cairo, Illinois and Morristown, Tennessee. In 1907
he entered Augustana College and graduated there in 1912 with an
A.M. degree in theology. Ordained to the ministry in 1912 he be­came
pastor of the Augsburg Church, Porter, Indiana, the same year
and served that church for ten years. He engaged in traveling and
lecturing in astronomy, received a Ph.D. degree from Potomac Uni­versity
in 1926 and in 1932 erected the Carlson Planetarium in Porter,
Indiana, where he lectured and taught classes in astronomy. He died
March 4, 1950.—See obituary in Svenska Amerikanaren Tribunen,
March 16, 1950; entry in Who's Who in the Midwest, 1949; and feature
article in the Hammond (Ind.) Times of August 2, 1939.—Ed.
124
some cases to shape the building must have been hard work
even for strong and stubborn men. It was to take a period
of ten years to make the planetarium ready for the public.
While Dr. Carlson was busy with his "dream construc­tion"
his first wife, Olivia, planted a garden around their
residence. If this also was built by the Carlsons, I do not
know. Modernized and beautified, "Villa Olivia" has sur­vived,
but gone is the garden with its tulip beds, its lilac
bushes and the Ornäs birch (Betula Dalecarlica) lovingly
planted by the Carlsons. By the time the planetarium was
at least to some extent completed, Mrs. Olivia's life came
to an end. Little has been said about her except that she
was a kindly and resourceful woman. Two years after her
death, that is in 1934, Dr. Carlson married Elsa Strandberg,
a native of Chicago, a beautiful and gracious woman. She
was eighteen years younger than her husband. She came
to be the public relations link for Dr. Carlson in his con­tact
with groups and individuals.
There is hardly a boy or girl scout, now nearing middle
age, that at some time or another did not visit the plane­tarium
and listen to a lecture by Dr. Carlson, if the young­ster
happened to live hereabouts in the "Time of the Plane­tarium."
It also became almost a tradition, that at the time
of the midsummer festival, Swedish families from surround­ing
communities as well as from Chicago and other more
distant places would gather at the planetarium to celebrate
the holiday which is so much a part of the life in the "old
country." The visitors would bring their picnic baskets and
enjoy an outing in those green and peaceful spaces by Villa
Olivia. The day would end by a lecture and a visit to the
roof platform for a look at the stars.
Dr. Carlson was never adverse to publicity. He would
deliberately make startling statements to attract attention
to his planetarium and to himself. Shortly before his final
illness and subsequent death, he let it be known, that he
125
had found a way to trisect any angle into equal parts and
what was more, prove his method to be mathematically cor­rect.
The Gary Post Tribune in a report about the lecture,
that had stirred wide interest among engineers and teach­ers
in Gary, Valparaiso and other communities, could only
a little bewildered conclude something to the effect that
"perhaps Dr. Carlson is a very smart man, but he is no
Einstein." If indeed Dr. Carlson had found a solution to an
age-old and puzzling problem, still remains a secret.
Dr. Carlson, born in Grangärde, Dalarna, Sweden, July
12, 1876, died at Augustana hospital in Chicago, March 4,
1950. His widow, Elsa Strandberg Carlson, also passed away
a few months later in 1950. Her passing was sudden and
unexpected. There were no children to claim or care for the
estate. The home had been a hospitable one and the plane­tarium
a place of interest. Loneliness and decay took pos­session
of the buildings and the garden filled with weeds.
No one seems to know, what became of the many and in
some cases valuable books in the library or what happened
to the models of stars and constellations constructed by Dr.
Carlson for his planetarium. A huge bonfire was built in
the yard that early spring of Mrs. Carlson's death. If any­thing
of great value went into that flames is not known.
In a letter of greetings to his former congregation on the
occasion of its 80th anniversary, Dr. Carlson reminisced
about experiences in "Augsburg" and showed his feelings
for his old friends:
W e came to a primitive community with pioneer con­ditions.
Horse and buggy and clay roads; kerosene
lamps in church and parsonage and homes. For t en
y e a r s w e carried every drop of water needed from a
rickety pump half a mile away. A n d this within forty
miles of the world's most progressive city, Chicago.
O u t of a salary of s e v e n hundred-fifty dollars a y e a r w e
paid for t w o phones and a million other things. W e had
big attendance at festivals and s e r v i c e s , and w h e n I
was in the pulpit, no one w e n t to sleep. It was an in-
126
teresting, exciting and constructive period. ... In spite
of differences, both mental and physical, the sturdy,
rugged individualism of the older people of Augsburg
was to m e a constant source of study and inspiration.
W e w e r e all simple, t r u e Nordics, with that mental in­tegrity
so characteristic for this race, and which is best
displayed in the small community.
127

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DR. ERIC HERMAN CARLSON, THE
STAR GAZER OF PORTER
Photo: Courtesy, T h e G a r y P o s t - T r i b u ne
DR. CARLSON'S PLANETARIUM
PORTER, INDIANA
Photo: Courtesy, T h e G a r y P o s t - T r i b'
THE CARLSON PLANETARIUM IN
PORTER, INDIANA
ANNA-MAUD TRANBERG
The Chesterton Tribune of August 26, 1954, carried on
its front page, what one might call the obituary of the Carl­son
Planetarium in Porter, Indiana. On that day a build­ing,
about as controversial as its builder, was with much
effort of men with bulldozer and cables completely torn
down. "It was a sad sight for any friend of Dr. Carlson,"
said the account. Whether or not one would agree, that the
planetarium was "a ramshackle structure" as the Chester­ton
Tribune put it or "a fire hazard" as the then owner of
the Carlson property declared it to be, fact is that the Carl­son
Planetarium had for years been a landmark in Porter
County in more ways than one.
Eastbound visitors to the Indiana Dunes State Park and
other travelers could not very well ignore that strange, rus­tic
building set among sturdy oaks by a little river just off
road 20, a few miles west of the Dunes State Park. The
sign Carlson's Planetarium over the gate posts could easily
be observed. If the traveler took the time and trouble to
approach the building, the lettering over the front entrance
saying, A B o y ' s Dream Come True might add to the read­er's
curiosity about the building.
In its account of the razing of the planetarium the Ches­terton
Tribune described the building as oval shaped, mea­suring
200' in circumference. It had a center aisle 66' long,
123
connecting the front and back doors. The planetarium was
a two story construction. On the main floor was a large
lecture hall and several smaller rooms, some with just the
bare earthen floors. From the upper level one could by
means of a ladder and a trap door reach a roof platform,
where Dr. Carlson set up his telescope for the scrutiny of
the firmament. The planetarium and Dr. Carlson's resi­dence
"Villa Olivia" were surrounded by fourteen acres of
beautiful land.
The history of Carlson's planetarium* dates back to the
year 1922. That was the year, when Dr. Carlson's services
as minister to the congregation of the Augsburg Lutheran
Church in Porter, Indiana, were terminated. He had then
served that congregation, his first and only one, for a pe­riod
of ten years. Officially he resigned from his duties,
due to ill health. There may have been other reasons also.
At that time, Dr. Carlson owned some land, bought from
Frances Howe, a granddaughter of Joseph Bailly, first white
settler in Porter county. On this land he now set about
building a planetarium. He and his devoted friends had
only their hands and the usual carpenter tools of that time
to complete a task that in some respects was gigantic. In
our age of power tools, felling white oaks with axes and
hand saws and then setting those mighty logs vertically in
* The personal history of the Star Gazer of Porter—Eric Herman
Carlson was born in Nyhammar, Grangärde, Dalarna, Sweden, July
12, 1876 and came with his parents to Chicago in 1892. Graduating
from Lane Technical High School, he studied at Armour Institute
and at Lewis Institute. For a time he worked for the Swedish lan­guage
newspaper Svenska Posten in Chicago and then taught school
for three years in Cairo, Illinois and Morristown, Tennessee. In 1907
he entered Augustana College and graduated there in 1912 with an
A.M. degree in theology. Ordained to the ministry in 1912 he be­came
pastor of the Augsburg Church, Porter, Indiana, the same year
and served that church for ten years. He engaged in traveling and
lecturing in astronomy, received a Ph.D. degree from Potomac Uni­versity
in 1926 and in 1932 erected the Carlson Planetarium in Porter,
Indiana, where he lectured and taught classes in astronomy. He died
March 4, 1950.—See obituary in Svenska Amerikanaren Tribunen,
March 16, 1950; entry in Who's Who in the Midwest, 1949; and feature
article in the Hammond (Ind.) Times of August 2, 1939.—Ed.
124
some cases to shape the building must have been hard work
even for strong and stubborn men. It was to take a period
of ten years to make the planetarium ready for the public.
While Dr. Carlson was busy with his "dream construc­tion"
his first wife, Olivia, planted a garden around their
residence. If this also was built by the Carlsons, I do not
know. Modernized and beautified, "Villa Olivia" has sur­vived,
but gone is the garden with its tulip beds, its lilac
bushes and the Ornäs birch (Betula Dalecarlica) lovingly
planted by the Carlsons. By the time the planetarium was
at least to some extent completed, Mrs. Olivia's life came
to an end. Little has been said about her except that she
was a kindly and resourceful woman. Two years after her
death, that is in 1934, Dr. Carlson married Elsa Strandberg,
a native of Chicago, a beautiful and gracious woman. She
was eighteen years younger than her husband. She came
to be the public relations link for Dr. Carlson in his con­tact
with groups and individuals.
There is hardly a boy or girl scout, now nearing middle
age, that at some time or another did not visit the plane­tarium
and listen to a lecture by Dr. Carlson, if the young­ster
happened to live hereabouts in the "Time of the Plane­tarium."
It also became almost a tradition, that at the time
of the midsummer festival, Swedish families from surround­ing
communities as well as from Chicago and other more
distant places would gather at the planetarium to celebrate
the holiday which is so much a part of the life in the "old
country." The visitors would bring their picnic baskets and
enjoy an outing in those green and peaceful spaces by Villa
Olivia. The day would end by a lecture and a visit to the
roof platform for a look at the stars.
Dr. Carlson was never adverse to publicity. He would
deliberately make startling statements to attract attention
to his planetarium and to himself. Shortly before his final
illness and subsequent death, he let it be known, that he
125
had found a way to trisect any angle into equal parts and
what was more, prove his method to be mathematically cor­rect.
The Gary Post Tribune in a report about the lecture,
that had stirred wide interest among engineers and teach­ers
in Gary, Valparaiso and other communities, could only
a little bewildered conclude something to the effect that
"perhaps Dr. Carlson is a very smart man, but he is no
Einstein." If indeed Dr. Carlson had found a solution to an
age-old and puzzling problem, still remains a secret.
Dr. Carlson, born in Grangärde, Dalarna, Sweden, July
12, 1876, died at Augustana hospital in Chicago, March 4,
1950. His widow, Elsa Strandberg Carlson, also passed away
a few months later in 1950. Her passing was sudden and
unexpected. There were no children to claim or care for the
estate. The home had been a hospitable one and the plane­tarium
a place of interest. Loneliness and decay took pos­session
of the buildings and the garden filled with weeds.
No one seems to know, what became of the many and in
some cases valuable books in the library or what happened
to the models of stars and constellations constructed by Dr.
Carlson for his planetarium. A huge bonfire was built in
the yard that early spring of Mrs. Carlson's death. If any­thing
of great value went into that flames is not known.
In a letter of greetings to his former congregation on the
occasion of its 80th anniversary, Dr. Carlson reminisced
about experiences in "Augsburg" and showed his feelings
for his old friends:
W e came to a primitive community with pioneer con­ditions.
Horse and buggy and clay roads; kerosene
lamps in church and parsonage and homes. For t en
y e a r s w e carried every drop of water needed from a
rickety pump half a mile away. A n d this within forty
miles of the world's most progressive city, Chicago.
O u t of a salary of s e v e n hundred-fifty dollars a y e a r w e
paid for t w o phones and a million other things. W e had
big attendance at festivals and s e r v i c e s , and w h e n I
was in the pulpit, no one w e n t to sleep. It was an in-
126
teresting, exciting and constructive period. ... In spite
of differences, both mental and physical, the sturdy,
rugged individualism of the older people of Augsburg
was to m e a constant source of study and inspiration.
W e w e r e all simple, t r u e Nordics, with that mental in­tegrity
so characteristic for this race, and which is best
displayed in the small community.
127